MisterTotality

So, I suppose an update is long overdue!  After all, I didn't write a single journal in 2013!

Well, first off, the greatest geek holiday you've probably never heard of is upon us!  March 14th is no less than -day (since in the United States we always put the month before the day, March 14th is 3.14), "Talk Like a Physicist Day" www.preposterousuniverse.com/b… and Einstein's Birthday en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein !  So let your nerd flag fly free today!  Learn something new about physics, math, and/or astronomy.  Make a reference to your wave-function en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_fun… , or virtual particles en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_… .  If you'd like to keep it simple, you could just have an iced coffee and think deep thoughts, as Einstein liked to do.  It's all in the spirit of March 14th!  Apparently, I won't need to do anything out of the ordinary!

Secondly, I've recently passed a number of important milestones in my life.  As of last June, I've been out of college/university for the first time in 8 years, having finished my most recent pair of degree programs.  Life has been very interesting in the last year, to say the very least!  There have been a lot of ups and downs, but I'm definitely enjoying the added freedom of not constantly being in either class or at work.

Lastly, it appears that I'm becoming a writer, of sorts.  When did this happen?!  It just kind of happened!  I've never experienced inspiration to draw or paint or sculpt, but I have been struck with the inspiration to write several times.  On a few occasions the urge was so strong that it keep me up at night, and I had to get out of bed and just write!  Now I understand what artists mean when they talk about the need to create.  I also understand what they mean when they talk about the flaws in their own work, the flaws others don't see because they only see the finished product and not your original intent.  I've experienced the bizarre sensation of starting with an idea, only to have it turn into something else entirely.  So, all of my artist and writer friends, for the first time in my life I have an idea of what it's like to see the world through your eyes.  It really is a different way of seeing the world.

We are energy, light, electrons, quarks, nuclei, atoms, molecules, animals, mammals...  humans.

There is a reason we feel awe when we look out into space, among the stars.  There we see our original nursery.

www.youtube.com/embed/ZSt9tm3R…

I made someone's day today.  It was a simple thing for me to do, but it really helped them out.  



Remember, you have the power to make someone's day wonderful!



You don't have to be as awesome as this guy => www.wimp.com/wecould/

It can be this simple => www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc8ZbV…



Just a friendly reminder from a friendly geek.

Alright, the purpose of this journal, as the title suggests, is two-fold.  First of, I'm still alive!  I just made it through another difficult semester and am currently trying to enjoy just working for a few weeks, as opposed to working and attending class.  Who knows...  maybe I'll actually make something!

That aside, I've been tagged by the awesomely geeky Miss !  She's QP for short.

She and I have both observed that this quiz is astonishingly similar to one I did back in August.  It seems likely that it is a subtle variation on that quiz which has simply made its way around and has now landed back in my lap.  

Interestingly, as with the previous quiz/tagging journal, this one showed up in my inbox when I was in between semesters, had a day off from work, didn't have an overwhelming amount to do, and in both cases it happened to be a Wednesday!  Ironic!

Anyhow, here we go!

RULES (as copied from 's journal):
1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves in their journal.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create eleven new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. You have to choose 11 people to tag and post their icons on your journal.
5. Go to their page and tell them you have tagged him/her.
6. No tag backs.
7. No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this." You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

As with my previous tagging journal, I'd like to point out that I don't care if you follow the rules.  Do what you want people!  Don't let the system keep you down!  

Boy!  I have to post 11 new things about myself!  I already did 10 in the last one, so I'll try to be original and not repeat myself here.

1.) Why the obsession with total solar eclipses?  Apart from looking really cool, they are fascinating.  The disk of the Moon covers up the disk of the Sun while still leaving the Sun's atmosphere, the coronal, exposed.  Once the glaring light from the Sun is cut off, we can actually see the Sun's atmosphere and part of its magnetic field.  When we also take into account that the Moon is, and has been since its formation, receding from the Earth, we realize that this is a limited phenomenon.  Eventually, the disk of the Moon will no longer cover the disk of the Sun!    So, if you ever get the chance to go see one in person, do it!  Here's a schedule: eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.ht…

2.) I've gotten to the point that I rarely leave my apartment other than to go to work or class.  I now spend almost all my free time reading or messing around on the computer.

3.) On that note, I'm good friends with a very popular guy.  We've been good friends for about five and a half years.  Twice in the last week, since the semester has ended, he has dragged me out of my "cave" and made be social.  The last time was two days ago.  We went to a coffee bar and I met a number of new people who were friends of my friend.  To my great surprise, they started asking me lots of questions about science.  At first, I took it as pleasant conversation.  However, the number and frequency of the questions revealed that there was a genuine interest.  This was very gratifying for me.  It made me wonder if it was just this group of people or if people in general are more interested in scientific issues then I previously realized.

4.) Unfortunately, I often intimidate people without trying at all.  I usually find this out after that fact from someone else.  Now, I am tall, kind of quiet, and a bit stoic, but I still find it odd that I'm interpreted (purely from my body language, apparently) as being intimidating or angry.  The irony of course being that anyone who knows me knows that I'm actually a really nice guy.  

5.) I believe human beings have a moral obligation to look after one another.  The fact that many people are dying of hunger when food is wasted, and curable illness goes untreated due to lack of insurance or money, is disgraceful!  It is my view that greed should never trump compassion.  Perhaps I'm just naive, but I'm holding out hope for a Utopian society: www.break.com/index/one-of-the…

6.) I'm genuinely interested to see how life will have changed on this planet in another century.

7.) I'm such a science geek I actually got really excited about visiting a national laboratory recently: www.nscl.msu.edu/

8.) Since this was brought up by a friend of mine recently, I can say honestly that I've never wanted children of my own.  I don't dislike children, I just don't want any.  My older sister has a daughter and she's adorable and sweet, but it still doesn't make me want children.

9.) I'm the geeky guy who was picked on in school.  That persisted until about halfway through high school and then it abruptly stopped.  I found out after having graduated from high school that a number of people thought I was going to "blow up" the school!  I never claimed I would do any such thing and I wouldn't do any such thing.  

10.) I tend to get really into the things that I like.  That probably doesn't come as any surprise if you've talked to me, read this journal, looked around my favorites...

11.) Learning to accept and love myself for who I am is one of the simplest, yet most liberating things I've ever done.  This may seem like a random thing to put here, but it's not.  This is, in fact, related to a number of things I've written above.  While it is unfortunate that many people interpret my body language negatively as they do, I don't feel compelled to change it.  After years of being picked on, I'm not angry or bitter.  I feel no desire to change who I am or how I act.  I am what I am.  I am who I am.  And while I have struggled with depression in the past, I can say that today I don't hate the person I see in the mirror.  

So, if you haven't already, I think you should learn to love yourself for who you really are.  You don't need to look like everyone else.  You're already beautiful (or handsome, whatever the case may be).  You don't need to act like everyone else.  You're already fascinating.  As long as you are not hateful or intolerant, just be yourself.  


Here are the questions posed to me by .  My answers immediately follow each question.

1. If you would have to describe the whole of my [QP's] personality in 4 adjectives... which ones would that be?

Tired, geeky, crazy, erratic.

2. Do you consider testing on humans unethical?

This is a difficult question.  I suppose it depends on the context.  Psychological tests are done on humans all the time.  So long as people consent to the testing, I suppose I'm okay with it.  Questions of ethics always involve a lot of gray area and ambiguity, and this is certainly no exception.

3. Of all places in the universe, where would you love to have sex once? (don't dare to say *my bed*, I hate predictability)

Getting awfully personal there, QP!    I suppose I've always wanted to "do it" in the rain out in the middle of nowhere.  So long as it's a soft rain and not a torrential downpour.  That could be cold and uncomfortable.  It would kind of ruin it...

4. If someone offers you a test-tube and asks you to drink it, what do you do?

Start asking a number questions about what it is, why I'm being asked to drink it, why it's in a test-tube, and so on.  Then I suppose we'd take a trip over the chemistry department at my U and I'd have my peoples in said department test the substance to determine what it is.  If it turned out to be toxic or poisonous, I'd have all the evidence I need to prosecute them.  If it turned out to be inert or healthy, I think I'd ask again why it was presented in a test-tube.  It's only natural and fitting to be suspicious of such a thing.

5. If Schrödinger would have met and married Pandora, what would have been in the box?

The Multiverse and a perfect vacuum which does not exhibit a Casimir effect or dark energy in superposition with one another.  Opening the box does not collapse the wave-function and a perpetual paradox ensues which proceeds to unmake reality beginning with number theory!  

I'm not insane, people!    I don't want to hear a word of it!  I make perfect sense somewhere out there in the Multiverse!  Or is it in a perfect vacuum?  ...  OH SHHIIIIII------


6. What do you prefer: life like a sine curve, or life like a constant at a nice, "normal" level?

The intersections of the sine curve and the constant, "normal" level line.  It represents those periods in my life when I'm awake and aware and not overwhelmed enough to realize that my life appears to be on track.  I'm too busy and tired to notice the rest of the sine curve.

7. How does society function according to you?

It depends on the society.  I do find it strange that in a lot of societies people seem to put others up on pedestals only to try to knock them down.  For example, helping some actor or politician move their career along, only to dig up some "juicy scandal" which can compromise their career.  I don't get that!  

I would like to see less greed and selfish behavior and more of people helping each other out.  

8. What is the one thing that makes you epically angry?

Discrimination!  No one deserves to be treated poorly just because of the color of their skin, reproductive organs, sexual orientation, etc!  

9. Which is the best song to sing in Calculus class? (don't say *nothing*, I want title and artist)

Probably "What You Know About Math?" by these guys www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9wq2W…;
You know you'd sing it, rap it, whatever.  I couldn't possibly keep a straight face while doing it, but I'd do it.

10. What is your favorite number?

Probably one of the irrationals, pi or e.  They're fascinating because they come up everywhere.

11. If you would have to direct a romantic movie scene with me [QP] in the main role, what would it look like?

It would be in black and white.  Very 1920's, '30's, or '40's style.  QP would be in her favorite classic style from that era.  There would be no lead male, just an abstract algebra text lying on a desk.  

QP confesses her feelings for abstract algebra!  The text does nothing!  It says nothing!

Crushed, QP turns from the text and sobs, "How can you be so cold?!"

Does abstract algebra love QP?  Will it reciprocate her feelings?  Drama!


Okay!  My turn!  Here are the questions, folks.  

1.) Well, since it is something I've become curious about, I'd like to know, are you interested in scientific questions?  Do you think the big scientific questions of our time are interesting?  What's your favorite branch of science?

2.) How much time do you spend on the computer?  Be honest....    Don't worry, I'm just asking about time.  I'm not asking what you do.  

3.) What would you say you spend most of your time doing these days?

4.) Do have or want children?

5.) Since this is an art website, do you have or want any art on your body, i.e . tattoos?

6.) Do you have those friends who are always trying to set you up with people?

7.) Describe the craziest dream you can remember after waking up.

8.) What or who do you love more than anything/anyone else?

9.) What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning...  afternoon...  whenever?

10.) Are you fascinated by other cultures and/or time-periods?  If so, what cultures and/or time-periods?  Would you visit it/them if you could?

11.) Would you go into space if you could?

Okay then, here's the new list of peoples who I'll attempt to torture with this stuff!

,,,,,,,,,,

Once again, I offer you that you may simply answer the questions as a comment here without going through the whole process of making a new journal.  I'll also add that you may answer any number of the questions you like and/or add interesting facts about yourself if you feel so inclined.  If I did not tag you and you just read this and want to answer the questions, feel free.  Lastly, don't worry if you don't want to do this.  As I pointed out above, I do think this is just a slightly altered version of the same quiz that passed through 4 months ago.  I know all too well what it's like to be crazy busy and to not have the time for this stuff.  You won't break my heart.  I won't pout.  I won't hate you.

With love and support from the umbra en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbra ,
MisterTotality.

I've been tagged by the great with this quiz/tagging thing.

Rules (as copied from 's journal)  

1 - You must post these rules (VERY Important )
2 - Each person must post 10 things about themselves on their journal.
3 - Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create ten new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4 - You have to choose 10 people to tag and post their icons on your journal.
5 - Go to their pages and tell them you have tagged her/him.
6 - No tag backs
7 - No crap in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you're reading this." You legitimately (AKA, really, truly with all honesty) have to tag 10 people.

Let me be honest, I don't care if you follow these rules!  I think they're self-defeating and if everyone followed them to the letter, it would result in all possible deviants being exhausted from the list of possible "tagees" exponentially fast.  Since 10 deviants must select 10 deviants who themselves must select 10 deviants...  powers of 10!  I followed the rules to the letter and that was challenging for me, but if you don't want to, then don't.

Anyway, here we go!

Ten things about me:
1) I am completely and hopelessly addicted to coffee.  I drink it everyday and get headaches if I don't.

2) I'm a huge book-reader/book-lover.  I already own a personal library of about 400 volumes in my small apartment.  Mostly non-fiction and mostly technical reading.

3) I enjoy being on deviant art, and I love cheering on my favorite artists and cosplayers and telling them how much I love their stuff, but I feel really out of place since I'm not really an artist or a cosplayer.   I feel bad about "not contributing" and yes, I know I can and should much more often!  

4) I love birds!    I find them fascinating and adorable.  

5) When I communicate with people online I hear in my mind what I imagine their voice to sound like, even if I've never heard it.

6) I have a pathological obsession with detail, and I memorize, with great care, things most people would probably consider to be trivial.  Dates, times, numbers, marks on walls, you get the idea...

7) This might not come as a huge surprise, but I can't stand it when people deny established science, like evolutionary biology or big-bang cosmology, simply to support political or spiritual ideologies.  People who do that are basically asking reality to conform to their world-view!  

8) When I drink, I like wine and highly refined liquors.  I don't really like beer.

9) I always request a first floor apartment, since I'm often doing my homework late into the night and I sometimes pace back and forth while thinking.  I wouldn't want anyone living below me to have to deal with that, so I eliminate the possibility by getting a first-floor place.

10) I don't see myself as being a very masculine guy.  I make no attempt whatsoever to act macho or tough, and I feel that guys who do that are terribly insecure with themselves.


The questions in 's quiz which I must answer:

1) What was the craziest thing you've done in your life?
I've been asked this before and it always makes me start blushing and laughing!  It was illegal, but not in a violent or destructive way.  I will say it involved a busy avenue in a busy city that I didn't live in at the time, but do now.  Oh, the things we do when we're in love!    

2) What was the furthest border your curiosity pushed you to?
I've spied on people before.  I'm not proud of it, but I hate knowing that something is up and knowing that you're not being told what it is.  I respect other's privacy more than that now, but there was a time when I did it frequently.

3) Do you remember your biggest childhood dream?
Yes, I wanted to be an airplane pilot.  That actually led me to where I am today.  As I dived into my fascination with all things aerial, I started to question how aircraft work, which led to a passive study (since I was only 12 at the time) of aeronautical engineering.  Then I started questioning the limits of what could be built, which led to studying the laws of physics.  As I started college, I planned to major in physics and I already knew that would mean I would have to study a lot of math.  I started enjoying the math, too, and this led to majoring in that subject as well.  So now I'm at a university double majoring in physics and mathematics all because I liked airplanes as a kid!  Life is funny, isn't it?

4) If you could take only 5 things to the desert island what would that be?
i) A laptop computer, (ii) a solar panel to supply things with power, like said computer.  I suppose we should assume the island is surrounded by salt-water, so I'll need supplies to filter the salts out to make it drinkable.  (iii) So I'll need a desalination devise.  (iv) I guess I'd better have a pot to cook things in, since I probably won't be able to make that myself.  (v) Lastly, if it's a "desert" island, the climate probably won't permit the growth of coffee, so I'd better have a large supply of coffee beans (I can use the pot to roast them)!

5) Has a song ever made you cry?
Yes, a few have actually.   If any song is terribly sad or intensely beautiful, it certainly can have an effect.

6) What was the longest time you've been holding a grudge against smb.?
Hmm...  not sure.  I've been annoyed with the actions of lots of people, but I doubt that constitutes "holding a grudge."  I can usually let things go or, if someone is just constantly acting like a jerk or being terribly irresponsible, I will stop talking to them or associating with them.

7) If you could get a role in a movie what would that be?
I think I would love to play a lead villain!  To me, acting is all about slipping into the role of someone else.  Since I'm normally a nice guy , I think it would be fun to play someone who's not so nice!  

8) If there's a mass obsession with some movie/book/artist and you don't like it, would you keep your dislike to yourself or would do your best to prove to everybody that it's a piece of shit?
You mean like the "Twilight" series?    Neither of the above choices.  I'll point out if I think something is crap, but you can't prove that to anyone.  Everyone's taste varies.

9) Name the funniest word you can think of.
"Shpadoinkle!"  It's a made-up word from the film, "Cannibal! The Musical" www.cannibalthemusical.net/&nb…, it can mean anything from "Fuck!" to "sanity!"

10) Have you ever lost best friends?
Yes, people change and drift apart.  It's kind of sad, but it happens.

Okay then, my list of 10 questions:

1) Do you have a job and, if so, what do you do?

2) Are you addicted to anything and, if so, what?

3) What is your ultimate goal in life?

4) Are you a "snappy" dresser, a lazy bum, or somewhere between when it comes to clothes?

5) Do you have a preferred genre of movies or music, or are you content to watch or listen to whatever?

6) Favorite book?

7) In your opinion, what is the greatest invention of all time?

8) If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

9) Here's a hypothetical one for you.  A bit odd...  Do you think you're crazy?  Because you do realize that if you were, people probably wouldn't tell you so.  Feeling uncomfortable yet?  

10) Cake or death?! www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNjcuZ…

Okay then, here's the list of peoples who I'll attempt to torture with this stuff!

, , , , , , , , ,

As it was offered to me, I offer you that you may simply answer the questions as a comment here without going through the whole process of making a new journal and all that.  I'll also add that you may answer any number of the questions you like and/or add interesting facts about yourself if you like.  If I did not tag you and you just read this and want to answer the questions, feel free.  I'm easy-going.  Lastly, don't worry if you don't want to participate.  I know some people don't like these quizzes.  You won't break my heart if you opt out.

  Boy!  That took longer than I thought it was going to.  

Here's a dramatic reenactment of my epic battle with the quiz: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSR0it…